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Behold, thou hast made my days
composer
author of text
Psalm 39: 5-7, 12-13
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) was the outstanding English composer of church music in the generation following William Byrd, but in his lifetime he was probably best known as a brilliant keyboard player. His anthems belong to either of the two types—the verse anthem (in which short choruses break up the solo passages into a succession of verses) and the full anthem (written for full choir). Setting words from Psalm 39, Gibbons composed Behold thou hast made my days in 1618 for the funeral of Anthony Maxey, Dean of Windsor. This is one of only three of his verse anthems employing a single solo voice, here alternating with the 5-part chorus.
from notes by Phillip Borg-Wheeler © 2016
Recordings
 Gibbons: AnthemsCDH55228Archive Service  ‘Sung with sensitivity and vigour. Vocal ranges are perfectly suited to Robin Blaze and Stephen Varcoe. Dovetailing between the solo and vocal section ... ‘Hill breathes new life into Gibbons' musical and spoken rhetoric, using tempo and dynamics to set up conflicts between vocal lines. Perfectly complem ...» More |
 Gibbons: In chains of gold - The English pre-Restoration verse anthem, Vol. 1Studio Master: SIGCD511Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available  This glorious album is both a compendium of some of the finest English music ever written and a testimony to the power of superlative performance.» More |
 The Evening HourStudio Master: SIGCD446Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available The choir of Jesus College Cambridge contemplates the hours that take us from day into night in a programme of works by English composers from the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.» More |
